MOSES LAKE — Patrons of the Moses Lake School District will be asked to approve or reject a $135.3 million construction bond in a special election Feb. 14. If voters approve the proposal, the money would be spent to build a second high school, a new elementary school and make upgrades to Moses Lake High School.

District officials estimate the cost for the new high school at $111,404,242.90. That’s $78,553,799.20 for construction, $29,850,443.70 in “soft costs” and $3 million for site development. Soft costs are “your desks, your chairs, your technology,” said Moses Lake superintendent Michelle Price, the things that turn an empty building into a functional space.

The district would qualify for about $9.4 million in state school construction money, meaning district taxpayers would pay $102,004,242.90.

While the new high school’s location has been selected, the design has not. Price said district officials don’t want to commission a design before the bond has passed. District officials took into account the lesson learned from construction of the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, she said.

That project was slated for state funding, and a design was prepared in 2009. But the project was delayed until 2012, and the design had to be updated. The updates “took us half a million dollars,” Price said. As a result district officials decided against starting the design process, which for a high school can take 18 months. “I didn’t want to waste the taxpayers’ money.”

District officials have decided the building will be two stories, and will be built with the potential for expansion. “There’s plenty of space there.”

The site selected – and purchased – is at the intersection of Paxson Drive and Valley Road, adjacent to the Grant County Fairgrounds. The 56 acres have a slope, but architects have looked at the site and think it’s suitable, Price said.

If the bond is approved, district officials would be looking for people to serve on a community design committee. A lot of people in Moses Lake have design and construction expertise, Price said, and one of the committee’s goals would be to make sure the design and construction are efficient and cost-effective.

In addition, district officials would sponsor community meetings to determine the specifics of a design. “What are the things that are really important to our community?” District patrons will have a chance to review the design proposals and give their reactions, she said.

Some conclusions have been drawn from the experience at MLHS. As an example the new high school would have a bigger theater, she said.

Both high schools would use the existing pool at MLHS, and both would play football games at Lions Field. The new high school would have its own sports practice fields.

Price said district patrons have asked her about staffing, and how the district funds compensation for teachers and aides. Staffing depends on the number of kids in school, and mostly is funded through basic school support money from the state.

The district has an established procedure for determining where kids will attend school, last used when Columbia Basin Secondary School was converted to Endeavor Middle School. The process includes multiple community meetings to get reactions as proposals are refined.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].